Peru’s president throws cold water on Chinese railway proposal

Peru President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said a transcontinental railway proposed by China to slash the costs of shipping Brazilian goods to Asia could be too expensive and environmentally harmful to build.

Peru’s President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski waves to the audience after receiving the presidential sash during his inauguration ceremony in Lima, Peru, July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

Peru and China agreed to study the feasibility of a 5,300-kilometer (3,293-mile) railroad to link Brazil’s Atlantic coast with a port on Peru’s Pacific shores last year during the term of Kuczynski’s predecessor, Ollanta Humala.

Environmentalists said the project, which would cross the Amazon and the Andes, could destroy rain forest and put indigenous tribes at risk.

Kuczynski, who took office in July, said in an interview with local broadcaster RPP from Beijing that he flagged his concerns about the potential project with China’s main railway builder during an official visit to the Asian powerhouse. Read More